NAFTA
NAFTA Certificate of Origin and Rules of Origin: Overview
Click the blue link below for the NEW NAFTA Certificate of Origin Interactive Tool.
NEW! NAFTA Certificate of Origin Interactive Tool
For a blank copy of the NAFTA Certificate, click here
Qualifying Goods for Preferential Duty Treatment under NAFTA
Qualifying goods for NAFTA preferential duty treatment and completing the NAFTA Certificate of Origin for the first time may be complex and time consuming depending on the products to be exported. The following documents are key to understanding the process involved in qualifying your product under the NAFTA rules.
Instructions on Filling Out Certificate of Origin
Find out the basics about filling out the NAFTA Certificate of Origin
Frequently Asked Questions about the NAFTA Agreement
What is the Preference Criterion?
How do I make the Rule of Origin Determination for my product?
How to get an Advanced Ruling for Origin Determination
For other useful documents on the North American Free Trade Agreement, please see the Trade Information Center's NAFTA database.
General Information on the NAFTA Certificate of Origin
- Document provides preferential duty treatment; a plus for the importer. Without the document, the importer will pay the usually higher most-favored-nation (MFN) tariff.
- May be completed in French, Spanish, or English. A translation may be requested by customs officials.
- Does not need to be notarized.
- No requirement that the exporter must submit the original document.
- Companies planning to use privately created certificates of origin should obtain Customs approval beforehand.
- Not required: (1) for shipments less than the equivalent to US$1000, (2) for goods which do not qualify under the NAFTA provisions for the lower tariff rate, or (3) for temporary entry goods.
- Certificate can be submitted for a refund up to 1 year after the importation of the good.
- The U.S. and Canada require that the certificate be kept for 5 years, Mexico for 10 years.
Updated NAFTA Rules of Origin: Annex 401 of the NAFTA is available on the U.S. Customs NAFTA Website. Click on Annex 401. Note: Updated rules of origin as of January 10, 2002 can be found in General Note 12(t). These notes reflect changes in the tariff classification rules of Annex 401.
Changes to the NAFTA rules of origin (Annex 401) are published in Federal Register notices that are posted to the website of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Annex 401, trilaterally approved in February 2000, has been updated to include both the technical changes that have been made to the Rules of Origin and to make it more generic in application.
The Original NAFTA Rules of Origin (Annex 401) are located in the text of the NAFTA agreement on the Internet.
The following two documents can also be downloaded from the U.S. Customs website.
Form 434 -- NAFTA Certificate of Origin and Continuation Sheet
Form 446 -- NAFTA Verification of Origin Questionnaire
Note: This document is meant to be a guide on the Rules of Origin provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Exporters should keep in mind that only the NAFTA text itself and the customs regulations of each country that may be issued to implement NAFTA are definitive. For complex issues or where interpretation is required, exporters should seek legal assistance or an advanced ruling from the Customs Administration in the country to which they are exporting.
Information Source: Trade Information Center